What Is A High CEA Level For Colon Cancer?

What is a high CEA level for colon cancer? What is the Carcinoembryonic antigen test (CEA)? The Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) test is a blood test used to diagnose and manage certain types of cancer. The CEA test is mainly used for cancer of the colon and rectum. Your doctor may use the test results to determine whether the treatment against cancer is working.

Antigens are substances made from cancerous tumor cells. Sometimes antigens are released into the bloodstream. The CEA test measures the amount of CEA in the blood. Large amounts of CEA in the body after cancer treatment or surgery indicate that the cancer is not lost. This may mean that cancer has spread to other parts of your body. Smoking can increase the amount of CEA in your body even without cancer. You should tell your doctor if you are smoking.

When will your doctor perform a CEA test? The CEA tests have different applications. Your doctor may order the CEA test if your symptoms indicate that you may have cancer. The CEA test can help your doctor find out if he is working for cancer treatment. This treatment may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or a combination of the three. Your doctor may also use the CEA test to help determine whether cancer has returned or recur after treatment has finished. The CEA test is most useful after the diagnosis of the types of cancer known to produce CEA. Not all types of cancer produce CEA.

What is a High CEA Level For Colon Cancer?

The CEA test is not useful for diagnosing or testing the overall cancer population. Usually, it is not used for filtering or diagnosing if you are healthy or do not show symptoms of a disease. But if someone has a genetic syndrome for colorectal cancer, then it is natural to use CEA as a screening tool. These cases are rare.

Your doctor may start to monitor the level of CEA before you start treatment if you are diagnosed with cancer. This will be the primary level for your CEA. The value of one CEA is usually not informative due to the many values and trends of these values over time. Your doctor will test repeatedly before, during and after treatment to check the changes.

How is the CEA test done? The CEA test is a blood test made in your doctor's office. Blood is usually taken from a vein in your hand. The process of blood collection or Venopunktura usually involves the following steps:

Healthcare providers will clean up the antiseptic puncture. This site is usually in the middle of your hand, on the other side of the elbow.

Health care providers will charge the elastic rubber around your upper arm to make blood vessels full of blood.

The needle is then inserted into your vein to collect blood in a vial or tube.

This tape opens from your hand and the lab will analyze your blood sample.

What is the normal CEA level? The normal CEA level is less than or equal to 3 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ML). Most healthy people have levels below this amount. The level of CEA will usually be normalized between one and four months after the successful eradication of cancer.

What is the abnormal CEA level? CEA levels are increased when CEA is higher than 3 ng/ML. This level is considered to be abnormal. People with many types of cancer may have levels higher than 3 ng/ML. If you have high marks, it doesn't mean you have cancer. Other causes may result in a level higher than 3 ng/ML. This may include: infection, cirrhosis, chronic smoking and bowel inflammation (IBD).

The level of CEA higher than 20 ng/ML is considered to be very high. If you have high levels of CEA and you also have symptoms of cancer, it really shows that cancer has not been successfully removed after treatment. This may mean that cancer has spread or spread to other parts of your body. Smoking can affect the results of your CEA test if you are healthy. CEA is usually increased but is less than 5 ng/ML in people who smoke. So, in conclusion, the normal CEA range in adult non-smokers is < 2.5 ng/ml, and for smokers < 5.0 ng/ml.

What happens if my results are abnormal? The CEA level should not be the only test used to determine whether you have cancer. Your doctor will use the CEA test along with other tests and will assess your symptoms. You and your doctor can work together to make a decision about the best choice for treatment If your doctor determines that you have cancer.

(This article is summarized from healthline.com in the article https://www.healthline.com/health/cea and https://www.healthline.com/health/colon-cancer.)